# Konstantin Rausch

Konstantin Viktorovich Rausch (Russian: Константин Викторович Рауш, German: Konstantin Rausch; born 15 March 1990) is a former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Born in Germany, he represented the country at various youth levels before switching allegiance to the Russia senior national team.

## Early life

Rausch was born in Kozhevnikovo, Tomsk Oblast, Russian SFSR to ethnic German parents. His family emigrated to Germany from Russia in 1996. His first friend in Germany could not pronounce "Konstantin" and instead called him "Kocka", a nickname still used by his teammates and coaches. Rausch is dual citizen of Russia and Germany.

## Club career
### Early career

Shortly after moving to Germany, Rausch started playing football at the local club, TuS Lachendorf. At the age of twelve he received an offer to join the youth team of Bundesliga side Hannover 96. He decided he was not mature enough for such a big club and instead joined another local side, SV Nienhagen. He finally joined Hannover two years later, rejecting offers from Werder Bremen and Feyenoord.

### Hannover 96

When 96 first choice left full back Michael Tarnat and his replacement Christian Schulz were injured, Rausch debuted against VfB Stuttgart on 30 March 2008. He was aged 18, which made him the youngest player ever, to appear in Hannover's first squad. Rausch had a good game, but had to be substituted at half time after straining a muscle. Two days later, he signed his first professional contract, running until 2010. While Hannover favoured a longer contract, Rausch did not want to tie himself for too long.

### VfB Stuttgart

After the end of his contract with Hannover on 1 July 2013, Rausch moved to VfB Stuttgart on a free transfer. On 5 May 2013, Konstantin Rausch signed a contract until June 2016 with VfB Stuttgart.

### Darmstadt 98

On 6 July 2015, Rausch signed a one-year contract with SV Darmstadt 98.

### Dynamo Moscow

On 21 January 2018, he signed with Russian club FC Dynamo Moscow. On 19 December 2020, Dynamo announced that he left the club as his contract expired.

### 1. FC Nürnberg and retirement

In summer 2022, after a season with 1. FC Nürnberg, Rausch retired from professional football.

## International career
### International youth teams

Rausch played for various German youth teams as a left full back or wing back, accumulating more than 30 appearances. His biggest success was a bronze medal at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he started in every game except for one, which he missed following a red card. After the tournament, he was awarded a Fritz Walter Medal in silver as the second most promising German football player of his age.

### Senior team

In March 2011, Russian media quoted Rausch to be interested in playing for the Russia national team, but that the Russian Football Union never approached him. On 16 August 2017, he was called up for Russia for a friendly game against a club side Dynamo Moscow, which did not count as a full international match. He made his full international debut on 7 October 2017 in a friendly game against South Korea.
On 11 May 2018, he was included in Russia's extended 2018 FIFA World Cup squad. He was not included in the finalized World Cup squad due to back injury.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Hannover 96 | 2007–08 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 |
| Hannover 96 | 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 0 |
| Hannover 96 | 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 0 |
| Hannover 96 | 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 34 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 5 |
| Hannover 96 | 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 49 | 2 |
| Hannover 96 | 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 30 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 42 | 4 |
| Hannover 96 | Total | Total | 150 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 180 | 11 |
| Hannover 96 II | 2007–08 | Oberliga Nord | 11 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 0 |
| Hannover 96 II | 2008–09 | Regionalliga Nord | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| Hannover 96 II | Total | Total | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 2014–15 | Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| VfB Stuttgart | Total | Total | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | 2014–15 | 3. Liga | 9 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 9 | 2 |
| Darmstadt 98 | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 31 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 3 |
| 1. FC Köln | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 28 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 31 | 1 |
| 1. FC Köln | 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 1. FC Köln | Total | Total | 40 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 50 | 1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2017–18 | Russian Premier League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2018–19 | Russian Premier League | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 0 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2019–20 | Russian Premier League | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | 2020–21 | Russian Premier League | 4 | 1 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Dynamo Moscow | Total | Total | 48 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 2 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | 2021–22 | 2. Bundesliga | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg II | 2021–22 | Regionalliga Bayern | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 323 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 367 | 21 |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Russia | 2017 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 4 | 0 |

## Honours

Germany U17
* FIFA U-17 World Cup: third place 2007
Individual
* Fritz Walter Medal: 2007 in Silver (Category U17)
* Fritz Walter Medal: 2009 in Silver (Category U19)